News: Masayoshi Son invests $1 billion, OpenAI and Ive join forces to create the "iPhone of the AI era"
OpenAI，一家以人工智能为核心的公司，最近引起了广泛关注。他们不仅在人工智能领域取得了重大突破，还开始涉足 AI 硬件领域。这让人们开始猜测，OpenAI 是否有潜力成为下一个苹果。 OpenAI 最近发布了一款名为"Dolphin Research"的智能穿戴设备，它具备了强大的人工智能功能。这款设备不仅可以监测用户的健康状况，还能提供个性化的健康建议和指导。此外，它还具备了语音识别和自然语言处理的能力，可以与用户进行智能对话。 除了智能穿戴设备，OpenAI 还计划推出一款名为"Longbridge"的机器人。这款机器人具备了先进的人工智能技术，可以执行各种任务，如家庭助理、陪伴机器人等。它还具备了自主导航和环境感知的能力，可以在复杂的环境中自主行动。 OpenAI 的 AI 硬件产品备受期待，因为他们在人工智能领域的技术实力已经得到了广泛认可。他们的人工智能算法在各种竞赛中取得了优异成绩，并且在学术界和工业界都有很高的声誉。因此，人们对 OpenAI 的 AI 硬件产品寄予了很高的期望。 然而，要成为下一个苹果并不容易。苹果作为全球知名的科技巨头，拥有强大的品牌影响力和广泛的用户基础。要超越苹果，OpenAI 需要在产品设计、用户体验和市场推广等方面做出巨大努力。此外，他们还需要与其他竞争对手展开激烈的竞争，争夺市场份额。 总的来说，OpenAI 作为一家以人工智能为核心的公司，有着巨大的潜力成为下一个苹果。他们的 AI 硬件产品备受期待，但要实现这一目标，他们需要克服许多挑战。只有在技术、产品和市场等方面取得突破，才能真正成为下一个苹果。
What would the "iPhone of the AI era" look like? OpenAI is now brewing a groundbreaking "AI hardware" with its technology at its core.
On September 28th, media reports stated that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is collaborating with Jony Ive, the former chief designer of Apple known as the "father of the iPhone," and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son for in-depth negotiations, with plans to establish a joint venture company to create the "iPhone of the AI era."
Citing three informed sources, the media reported that Son, Altman, and Ive are preparing to use the talents and technologies of the three companies to create a company focused on AI hardware, with SoftBank potentially investing over $1 billion.
The sources stated that Altman has hired Ive to develop AI-era consumer electronics based on OpenAI technology. They are currently discussing future AI hardware at Ive's studio in San Francisco, which is still in the early stages of design:
Although no agreement has been reached yet, both parties are very serious about exploring AI hardware, and it may take several months to formally announce the establishment of the joint venture company. Any hardware products produced by this company may take several years to truly enter the market.
Son has also participated in some discussions, and ARM may play a role in chip design and provide financial support.
Ive is known as one of the key figures at Apple and left the company in 2019 to start his own design studio, LoveFrom. Collaborating with OpenAI provides Ive with an opportunity to create a computer interaction method that relies less on screens.
Some media analysis suggests that considering Ive's involvement, this product is most likely some form of consumer electronics, such as a redesigned phone:
One possibility is that OpenAI is building its own operating system... Imagine a terminal device with OpenAI at its core, incorporating elements of a native AI operating system, improving the user experience while reducing reliance on Apple and Android systems.
In response to this, renowned analyst Ben Thompson quoted an article he wrote in March on X (formerly known as Twitter). The article discussed the transformation of AI terminal products and predicted the future after the rise of OpenAI: OpenAI could create a phone.
However, many analysts are skeptical that this device could be a smartphone. Former Microsoft Windows division president Steven Sinofsky responded to Ben Thompson, stating that anyone can manufacture a phone, but few can actually release a successful product, just look at Google and Microsoft. There are speculations among netizens that OpenAI is likely to create a hardware product as an AI assistant, possibly a robot:
"They already have the foundation of underlying software. It is logical for them to develop a hardware product as an AI assistant within the next 2 to 4 years."
At the same time, as one of the major investors in the hardware startup Humane, Altman, AI-driven wearable devices may also be a direction for OpenAI's layout.
In July of this year, Humane released Ai Pin, an "intelligent and connected wearable device that can be attached to clothing and interact with the environment and context through various sensors." It is an independent device, and its software platform utilizes the power of AI to provide innovative personal computing experiences.
This AI arms race is continuously expanding its application scenarios, focusing more on matching user experiences and use cases. From Meta's Quest MR headset to Amazon's Echo smart speaker, they are considered to be highly potential AI consumer terminals in the AI era, but none of them have created the miracle of the iPhone.
Technology is integrating into scenarios
Large AI models are entering a key iterative period where they are rapidly evolving from "toys" to "tools". The trend of intelligent terminals accessing large AI models is clear, and a diverse range of AI applications may appear in the downstream application end in the near future.
On September 28th, during Meta's annual developer conference Connect, they released the heavyweight headset Quest 3 and new smart glasses, and announced that all their apps will be equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
Media comments suggest that Quest 3, unlike its predecessor Quest 2, which was only a virtual reality (VR) headset, is more like a mixed reality (MR) headset that combines VR and augmented reality (AR) like Vision Pro. Some comments also suggest that Quest 3 marks Meta's transition from VR to MR.
Meta officials stated that the visual effects of Quest 3 are very impressive, making you can't help but want to reach out and touch the world around you.
On September 20th, Amazon held its most significant product launch event of the year, unveiling hardware products such as Alexa voice assistant, new Echo speakers, computers, glasses, and televisions, all equipped with generative artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.
Apple also released its first MR headset, Apple Vision Pro, this year. It is fully loaded with top-notch hardware specifications, including the M2 chip and R1 sensor, and features a single-eye 4K resolution silicon-based OLED+3p pancake display solution. It can achieve efficient real-time interaction relying solely on voice, vision, and touch, marking the official entry into the era of spatial computing. Therefore, in order to establish a solid foothold in the AI era and integrate technology into various scenarios, OpenAI may have to start considering the future of AI hardware.